Faith and Sword: A Short History of Christian-Muslim ConflictReaktion Books, 2006 M06 26 - 256 pages In today’s tense geopolitical climate, terrorist groups avow their allegiance to the Islamic faith in their edicts, while the president of the United States undertakes controversial wars in Islamic nations and openly refers to his Christian faith as a key component of his decision-making. With the recent surge in terrorist acts and military confrontations, as well as ever-strengthening fundamentalist ideologies on both sides, the Christian-Muslim divide is perhaps more visible than ever—but it is not new. Alan G. Jamieson explores here the long and bloody history of the Christian-Muslim conflict, revealing in his concise yet comprehensive study how deeply this ancient divide is interwoven with crucial events in world history. Faith and Sword opens with the tumultuous first centuries of the conflict, examining the religious precepts that framed clashes between Christians and Muslims and that ultimately fueled the legendary Crusades. Traversing the full breadth of the Arab lands and Christendom, Jamieson chronicles the turbulent saga from the Arab conquests of the seventh century to the rise of the powerful Ottoman Empire and its fall at the end of World War I. Faith and Sword then explores the complex dynamics that emerged later in the twentieth century, as Christendom was transformed into the secular West and Islamic nations overthrew European colonialism to establish governments straddling modernity and religiosity. From the 1979 Iranian revolution to the Lebanon hostage crisis to the present-day war in Iraq, Faith and Sword reveals the essence of this enduring struggle and its consequences. |
Contents
6 | |
The Arab Conquests 632750 | 13 |
Byzantine Defiance 7501000 | 27 |
Christian Advances in | 41 |
Victory over Outremer | 58 |
Rise of the Ottoman Turks 13001500 | 77 |
The Sixteenth Century | 95 |
Ottoman Revival and Decline 16001815 | 114 |
Triumph of the West 18151918 | 136 |
Breaking Free 19181979 | 157 |
Challenging America 19792005 | 182 |
A New Conflict? | 208 |
GLOSSARY OF PLACE NAME CHANGES | 216 |
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY | 223 |
241 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Abbasid Abd el-Krim advance Afghan Afghanistan al-Andalus Alfonso Algeria allies Almoravids American Anatolia Arab Arabia attack Austrian Balkans Barbary base battle became began Black Sea Bosnian British Byzantine empire caliph campaign captured century Christian Christian-Muslim conflict conquest Constantinople corsairs crusaders defeated Egypt emperor enemy Europe European Fatimid fighting finally forces France French Habsburgs holy Hospitallers Iberia India invaded Iran Iranian Iraq Iraqi Islamic Israel janissaries Jerusalem jihad King knights land largely launched leader London major Mamluks Mediterranean Mehmed Middle East military Morocco Mughal Muslim Muslim world nationalists naval Normans North Africa Ottoman empire Ottoman fleet Ottoman sultan Outremer Palestine peace Persian pope Portuguese raids recapture Reconquista religious revolt ruler Russian Saladin Saudi secular seized Serbs Shiite ships Sicily siege soon Soviet Spain Spanish struggle success Suleiman Syria taifa Templars territory terrorist threat took Tripoli troops Turkish Turks Venetians victory West western